Magic & Witchcraft – October
In the Middle Ages witchcraft developed from beliefs and practices of pagan religion. As Christianity spread, new beliefs and rituals were blended with the old. But there were holdouts such as the Norse who became Christian hundreds of years after many peoples of Europe and retained ancient beliefs about magic and witchcraft. In the 12th century, the concept of white and black magic spread widely causing the Church to investigate. As a result, witchcraft became those beliefs outside Christian belief. A surprising amount of pagan belief was just fine with Christians.
At the end of the 16th century European elites believed that, just as European nations were becoming better organised, the devil made pacts with witches and organised them into covens. The regimes of the 16th and 17th centuries controlled what they considered the deviance of witches by persecution.
Scotland became a persecuting nation in the reign of James VI and, between 1590 and 1700 over 1000 people, mostly women, were executed. However, in the Scottish Highlands, isolated from the European mainstream, witches were feared but not executed. They were also useful and older ways of thinking prevailed. Into the 19th century, Gaels performed rituals at the rising and setting of the sun, the making of a fire, before any activity including travelling. Probably these rituals were performed for 1000s of years.
Register at Lawson Writers’ Academy
What you will learn:
- The history of magic from ancient Persia to Early Modern Europe
- The meaning and origin of the words: mage, magic, magus
- The definition of witchcraft
- How witchcraft changed through time in the Middle Ages
- Why there were witch crazes
Every lesson includes questions and/or research projects designed to help you develop the magic or witchcraft in your novel.
What you will learn:
- The history of magic from ancient Persia to Early Modern Europe
- The meaning and origin of the words: mage, magic, magus
- The definition of witchcraft
- How witchcraft changed through time in the Middle Ages
- Why there were witch crazes
Every lesson includes questions and/or research projects designed to helo you develop the magic or witchcraft in your novel.
Who should take this course:
- Writers who want to write a novel with a strong character who is a magus, magician, witch or wizard
- Writers who want a strong understanding of magic & witchcraft through the ages
- Writers who want to write a strong subplot involving magic or witchcraft
- Writers who want to write a time travel involving magic or witchcraft
Course overview
Lesson one: Magic in the Ancient World
- The Mother Goddess
- The Hunter God
- Sky Gods
- Shamans
- Mages & Magic
Lesson two: Classical Antiquity
- Magic in Antiquity
- Greek Magical Papyri
- Kolossoi (‘Voodoo’ Dolls)
- The Roman Republic
Lesson three: Pagan & Norse Belief
1. Early Middle Age
2. Magic & Christianity
3. Divination
4. Trolldómr: Norse Witchcraft
5. The Demonic Pact
Lesson four: White & Black Magic
1. White & Black Magic
2. Diabolical Witchcraft
3. Renaissance Learning
Astrology
Alchemy
4. Men & Magic
5. Women & Witchcraft
6. Definitions
Lesson five: The Witch Craze
1. The Royal Touch
2. Cunning Men, Wise Women
3. The Heartlands of Persecution
4. Trials of Witches
5. Trials of the Great
6. The American Colonies
Lesson six: Persecution in Scotland
- Witchcraft in Lowland Scotland
- James VI & Witch Trials
- Witchcraft in Highland Scotland
- The Brahan Seer
- The End of Persecution
Clans of Ireland: Beyond the Pale – November
Ever heard the expression ‘beyond the pale’? Someone behaves dreadfully and someone else says, ‘tsk, tsk, that’s beyond the pale’. The English administration in Ireland coined that phrase about the ‘wild’ Irish. Wild? Why and what was the Pale?
Ireland has clans too, not just Scotland. Clan comes from clann the Gaelic word for children or descendants. The Gaels of Scotland and Ireland shared not only a language but also culture and law. What you know about Gaelic Scotland (the Highlands), may also be true about Gaelic Ireland.
The land was sacred to the Gaels. The Gaels believed that every bump and dip in the landscape had a story to explain its existence. Fionn, a giant, picked up a clod of earth to throw at his enemy. The hole left in the earth filled with water and is now called Loch (Lake) Neagh. Fionn was likely a pagan god in origin.
Between 1400 and 1700 Ireland changed from a Gaelic land to one conquered by the English. Your readers want a great story, but often they will expect to learn something about the country or period in which your novel is set. You will learn what you require from this course.
Register at Lawson Writers’ Academy
What you will learn:
- Major historical events, wonderful or deadly, which provide the background for your novels
- How to create characters with motivations and conflicts based in Irish history
- The difference between a Gaelic clan and an Anglo-Irish family as well as their names and locations
- Daily life in Gaelic Ireland
- Marriage customs of the clans – very different from customs in England
- How to avoid exposition ‘dumps’ & thread in details which enhance your story
- How to make readers want more after the first five pages of your novel
The meanings of placenames named for the activities of the ancient gods will be provided as well as a timeline for the Late Medieval period (1150-1600)
Who should take the course:
- Writers wanting to write a novel set in Ireland
- Writers who have little or no knowledge of Irish history – the ‘big picture’ will be given
- Writers who have some knowledge of British or Scottish history – the contrasts and similarities will be explained
- Writers who want to learn a little about Celtic mythology and the meaning of place names and surnames
Course Overview:
Lesson One: The Ancient Stones of Ireland
1. Megaliths
2. Raths – Ráthanna
3. Crannogs – Crannóga
4. Castles
5. The Big Houses
6. Inside an Anglo-Norman Castle
7. Furniture & Furnishings
8. The Calendar
Lesson Two: The Native Irish, the Gaels
2. Language
3. Place Names – Dinnsheanchas
4. Surnames
5. Clothing
6. Gaelic Kings
7. The King’s Men
Lesson Three: The Invaders
1. Vikings
2. Normans
3. Food & Feasting
4. Hunting & Pastimes
5. Marriage
6. Clothing & Armour of the Anglo-Normans
7. Battle of Clontarf
8. The Pale in the 16th Century
Lesson Four: Beyond the Pale
1. The ‘Wild Irish’
2. Women & Marriage
3. Clothing & Armour of the Irish Gaels
4. Food & Feasting
5. The Clever Fitzpatrick
6. Gráine Ní Mháille / Grace O’ Malley– The ‘Pirate Queen’
Lesson Five: The Long Wars
1. The Tudor Conquest
2. The Nine Years’ War
3. The Flight of the Earls
4. The Plantation of Ulster
5. The Rising of 1641
6. The Confederates of Kilkenny
7. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Lesson Six: Cromwellian Settlement
1. Cromwell of Evil Memory
2. Restoration of Charles II, the Merry Monarch
3. The Williamite/Jacobite Wars
4. The Wild Geese
5. Life in Seventeenth-Century Ireland
6. Women & War
7. Novels set in Ireland
Walt Disney would have you believe that fairies are sweet little creatures with wings and wands, helpful entities like Tinkerbell and the Tooth Fairy. Walt was wrong. In many lands people believe it’s not wise to go about your business in a manner which offends them–they are touchy. Dead scary in fact.
Fairies: The Old Gods
Some say the idea of fairies was just too useful to be abandoned. Some say they’re still around because they are the old gods of the Celts. They can do what they want. But what changes they’ve undergone. Lugh, the powerful sky god good at doing many things, has become the Luprachan (leprechaun), the little fairy good at making shoes. But he still guards his pot of gold.
June: Fantastic Castles & Horrible Hovels
August: Clans of Scotland
October: Magic & Witchcraft
November: Clans of Ireland – Beyond the Pale
If you want more information, please contact me.
Courses in the Past
Viking Age Britain 800-1100
‘From the fury of the Northmen, Oh Lord, deliver us.’ The Vikings (aka Northmen) burst on the scene in Britain in the late 8th century. In 793 the ‘heathen destroyed God’s church on Lindisfarne by rapine and slaughter’. In that year ‘immense whirlwinds and flashes of lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air.’ Terrified clergy feared their raids on monasteries, repositories of jewelled books, crosiers, and chalices, and very…
Fairies: The Old Gods
In England, before the Norman Conquest of 1066, fairies were called elves. Fairy is a word borrowed from French. Walt Disney would have you believe that fairies are sweet little creatures with wings and wands, helpful entities like Tinkerbell and the Tooth Fairy. Walt was wrong. In many lands people believe it’s not wise to go about your business in a manner which offends them–they are touchy. Dead scary in fact. J.K. Rowling introduced her readers to bogles, ashwinders, chimaeras, cute little crups, and, of course, elves. Tricky folk.…
Class: Sources of Fantasy
Sponsor: Lawson Writers Academy Warlords, Druids & Dragons Where is the road to a New York Times bestseller? Let me point you in the right direction—write a fantasy! Different sources of fantasy have inspired a torrent of novels and films. I’m sure you’re familiar with Rowling’s Harry Potter novels or G.R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. Or perhaps you’ve read Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Lions of Alrassan or The Last Light of the Sun? Jack Whyte wrote histories of royal courts with complicated relationships between a royal family and their…
Course: Celtic Mythology
Celtic Love of Nature The ancient Celts believed that all things, animate and inanimate, possessed a spirit. Mountains, hills and trees were manly; rivers and meadows were feminine. The Celts knew that spirits watched their every move. So any action was carefully considered because of the effect it might have on their destiny. Ogham, the first Gaelic alphabet, was based mostly on the names of trees and bushes. A reverence for nature passed gently to Celtic Christianity. Celtic Myth & Legend Then there was the tough side of…
Scottish Highlands 1500-1800
Swinging Kilts & Claymores! Everyone the world over recognises the heroic figure of the Scottish Highlander. But you have to wonder how that distinctive clothing evolved. You might assume that the society of the people who wore it was quite different from the Scottish Lowlands, England or any other European country. And you would be right. In the Scottish Highlands, serial marriage was as common before 1700 as it was in northern Europe before 1200. Highlanders still raided Lowland cattle in the 1600s and 1700s. Lowlanders did not…
???? what’s the cost of the courses??
Hi,
The course is $80.00 US. Anything else you’d like to ask?
Thanks for your interest!